IndiGo to charge passengers for checked-in luggage?

IndiGo, one of Asia’s biggest air carriers     is planning to charge passengers for checked-in luggage. According to a economic times report, the new development is part of a new strategy which the airlines is aiming to implement as the travel market is on the road to recovery after being hit by the pandemic. IndiGo, operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., didn’t implement the so-called unbundling of fares in February- just before a deadly wave of the pandemic hit India- even as Directorate General of Civil Aviation ruled that carriers can start offering zero baggage and no check-in baggage fares.

Speaking about the same, Chief Executive Officer, Ronojoy Dutta said in an interview on Tuesday. “We have been talking to the government about that,” Dutta said. “We’re waiting for everything to settle down before we lock something.”IndiGo joins Go Airlines India Ltd., is also looking to unbundle baggage charges from air tickets to position itself as an ultra-low cost carrier.  IndiGo’s move to make ticket prices even cheaper will intensify competition among carriers known for driving fares so low they barely, and often don’t, cover costs. The crushing price wars have put many airlines out of business in what was one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets before the pandemic. Continuing further Dutta said, "IndiGo is “unlikely” to raise funds through a share sale to institutional investors as previously planned, with air travel in India recovering from the worst of Covid infections. "Frankly, I don’t think we need it now because of no third wave, and revenue is coming back,” Dutta said.

IndiGo- the world’s biggest customer for Airbus SE’s best-selling A320neo jets- has no intention to fly routes such as London that require wide-body aircraft, Dutta said. While the carrier mulled over wide-body operations for a long time, it has decided it won’t compete with Vistara- a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and the Tata Group- which as a full-service carrier has a stronger foothold in the long-haul market along with Air India, Dutta said. Even so, IndiGo will expand its international routes faster than domestic to capture the surge in traffic flowing in and out of India in the seven-hour range where there are not enough non-stop flights, including to cities including Moscow, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Nairobi, Bali, Beijing and Manila, Dutta said. International routes will account for 40% of the carrier’s capacity in five years, up from the current 25%, he said. The latest development in the airline industry comes days after Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa Air has placed an order for 72 Boeing 737 MAX jets. The order by Akasa Air comes months after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) allowed airlines to fly the MAX jet, ending its nearly two and a half years of regulatory grounding after two fatal crashes in five months killed 346 people.